How to "Wrap Text" in a Spreadsheet

Claudia Donovan wrote that an address book she created with Excel is very wide and asked if she could split information into two rows and then be able to sort by "every other row."

Well, a second row isn't necessary because data within any row can be "wordwrapped" into multiple lines.

Highlight a cell, row, column, or the entire worksheet; then click Format>Cells>Alignment. Finally, checkmark Wrap Text. A cell's data will then "wrap" onto another line if it doesn't fit on one line. Notice how the address in Row 4 wrapped to a second line in the illustration below.

Copying a Spreadsheet from one PC to Another

Peggy Merchant asked how to move an MSWorks spreadsheet from an older PC into a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet on her new PC. (LibreOffice is free from www.libreoffice.org).

Well, Calc can read Excel and Quattro Pro spreadsheets, but not MSWorks files. However, Peggy's MSWorks spreadsheet can be easily converted to an Excel file. Here's how:

Open the MSWorks spreadsheet, click on File>Save As, and choose Excel (*.xls) in the "Save As Type:" field.

Now copy this newly-converted Excel file to the new PC and store it in the Documents folder. (You can transfer the file via email or a portable external drive.)

Next create a blank spreadsheet in OpenOffice Calc and click File>Open, whereupon all the Document folder's files will be listed. Double-click on the Excel file to import it into the Calc spreadsheet, where it can subsequently be saved as a Calc or Excel file (or a file compatible with several other listed programs).

How to Sort (Alphabetize) Lists

One of a spreadsheet's most useful functions is its ability to sort data alphabetically and/or numerically. Try it yourself. Type your name into Cell A1 along with several random names below it in the "A" column. Now mouse-select all the names and click Data>Sort, whereupon a dialog box will offer various sorting options.

To sort data in an MSWorks spreadsheet, click Tools>Sort. In Calc click Data>Sort. To sort these names in a Microsoft Word document, stack them in a column by pressing ENTER after each entry. Then mouse-select them all and click on Table>Sort.

Alternatively, you can create a spreadsheet-like "table" in Word by clicking Table>Create Table and then put one name per cell vertically into a column. Finally, alphabetize them with Table>Sort.

One of the sorting options will be "My Table (or Spreadsheet) Has a Header Row." Checkmark this item if you use Row 1 for listing headers, such as First Name, Last Name, Street Address, etc. This option prevents entries in Row 1 from being used in sorting or other calculations.

If you have multiple spreadsheet or table programs on the same PC, there is an easier method of copying a worksheet from one program to another. Mouse-select all the data in the original and copy it with Edit>Copy. Then click into Cell A1 of the target sheet and do Edit>Paste. The copied data will then expand into the same cells they had occupied on the original worksheet.

(Text prepared on Don's Chromebook)

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